Ballistol is a gift from God.

Mike, I really enjoy the way you discus in your videos how there are different ways to go about shooting/handling/cleaning black powder guns; and how you mention several different options, you state what works for you, but you don’t criticize other people who choose to do it differently. I used to work in a gun shop in KY and there would be no end to the number of opinions and how quick people jump on others for not having the same firearm philosophy as they do. You seem to make your content with the humble perspective of, “Based on my experience and current knowledge, this is what I think works best.” With all the puffed up egos there are in the gun world, you seemed to stay both humble and confident. I have always appreciated that watching your videos.

Thank you for the video. Funny how they're both good and bad. Good because I always learn something. Bad because I realize how little I actually know. Hahaha... Thanks again.

49 year who dabbled in inline percussion cap hunting over 20 years ago and find myself drawn back to the old ways more and more, like setting my x-bow and compound bow aside and shooting traditional. I'm the same way with my woodworking and carving. Anyway, I am in the market for a flintlock and this series has been extremely helpful. You present well and your experience and passion is evident. Thank you for the effort you put into this

We love the Log Cabin Shop. My son, Daughter and I are in a Gun building class there as we speak.

I'm a "Bass". I'll Bite! Is this a Ball "Bag", or a Ball "Sack?" Dixie and Track have great customer service, wish I could drive to either! Keep the Smoke Poles SMOKING!

This has been a great series and I appreciate it so much it has taught me a lot and I plan to put it to use. Thanks again! Have a great day stay safe and keep your powder dry!

Hey Mike thanks the series, after 60 years of shooting just getting into black powder. Have brought a 40 cal Lancaster flintlock. Your beginners series has been great. Regards kiwi

Besides picking up the accouterments online or at a store, many of them can be made yourself by hand. Powder horns, measures, bags, etcetera were all hand made, usually by their owners in most cases. Great series, as usual.

Thanks Mike, I am on a learning curve with a flintlockrifle and this has been a great help.

👍 I watched all 3 videos in this series and found them to be very interesting. Certainly wish they had been available when I started shooting flintlock firearms. Thank you doing these.

I use cut up scraps of old t shirts as cleaning patches. I have been using boiling water as a solvent, but if cold water is good enough I'll go for that.

I can not thank you enough for this series! Although I'm not new to black powder, I am planning on buying my first flint lock within the next few months. These videos were just perfect timing.

I made my own horn, I enjoy making all my equipment I can. I have done business with Track of the Wolf a few times, excellent company

Thank you for this series! I live in PA and have been considering getting into our flintlock deer season here and this has been invaluable information to get my started!

I personally use hot water with a little soap, and followup with dry patches, and finally a patch soaked in Ballistol. If the barrel is wedged, I remove it from the stock and submerge the flash hole in water and run a patch in and out. Nice series Mike. Things I would add are a rifle cover and a cows knee when the weather is bad. Great videos!

I'm no longer on Facebook so I can't contact you there, initials were K.M.. I liked the bird videos you used to put on there. However, what I stopped in for today was to let you know I had instantaneous ignition through a series of shots with my new Kibler Southern Mountain the other day. For me that is amazing. You can find a photo of it on the Kibler website in the photos and being used in the description of the SMR. It is shown on pegs in a window on that page. Catch you later, Mr. Believue.

Just finished the 3 part series- great job- very well put together- loads of information- thanks

Three very informative videos, possibly the best on KZfaq,, l have sent a link to a number of new flintlock shooters in my club. For some time there has been talk about the safety of the small brass priming flasks. About four weeks ago a member of my club ,shooting on an other range, had a priming explosion next to his chest, the back plug was only stopped going further into his body by his rib bone , he was back shooting again a week later, Most of the flintlock shooters are now replacing the brass plug with a cork.

Very good video mike, like always very informative. I always learn something from every video and I have been shooting black powder for a few years now. There is a good shop here in Pa it’s called Abe’s general store in oil city Pa. if someone needs help as long as they are willing to drive to their store they are willing to help. They are having a black powder shoot out in October

Thanks Mike , another great video learning a lot from this series.

19:00 I'll have you know I didn't laugh until you pointed it out. Again, awesome video and the best resource available. I've got everything but my gun in the mail.

Talk about "flash over rusting"! Several years ago, I tried cleaning a percussion rifle (T/C Renegade) with the hot water method. First time trying it. I have well water. With NO water conditioner. The iron content in our water is over the top! I was introducing "rust" onto and in the rifle every cleaning. I tried several preservatives with no luck. I stopped the hot water baths after realizing this. No problems since!

I always spray my guns with oli on range, after i'm done shooting. Then they can wait 1-2 days for cleaning, no problem. Just like you said, cold water works fine for me. I clean my guns with water and olied patches, then add some oil, and it's done.

I’m interested in getting into flintlocks. They look fun to shoot, and there’s a romance to ‘em that modern firearms just don’t have. I’ve watched all 3 of your beginners videos and they’ve been great and informative. Thank you for doing this!

Great series Mike. Thank you.

Dualist, you are a legend. In the past 3 years I've caught the black powder bug, I've only seen one other person on the range shooting traditional BP and the one Range Officer who could help me I had finally reconnected with retired to Canada. I don't have any old timers or people my age at the ranges I have around to ask questions. Your channel is a Godsend for people like me trying to feel their way through this new world. THANK YOU!

Thanks for this series, I've always wanted to get into BP and this has been invaluable. If possible could you create a troubleshooting installment? For example, what do you recommend when you load up a ball and it doesn't go off.

Excellent ending to the series Mike all three spots taught me a great deal more then i knew. Makes me wish so much I had the funds to do all this. Thanks Mike Thumbs up!

This was a GREAT video series thanks for sharing your time

Flintlocks Inc. in Nineveh, Indiana I got all stuff for the first rifle I built. It was a .58 cal Southern Mountain rifle some 46 years ago! Jerry my friend the owner past but his son cares on, great people!

Thanks for this series Mike, this will be where I send new flintlock enthusiasts to so they can learn.

You're doing alot better than me I started a series like this awhile ago and I've yet to make the second episode lol.

This has been very good, thanks for doing it. Mark

For anyone out there worried about cleaning BP rifles, I second Dualist's cleaning advice. Hot water was flash rusting my barrel and since then, I just use cold/warm tap water (plain or with dish soap), pump water through it with a patched jag, then follow up with moose milk, then pure Ballistol to finish up. Don't sweat it, don't freak out, don't feel like you've got to buy some super special black powder solvent. I've used those too and all I did was spend a bit more money for largely the same result. I hope this helps someone. For me, a big hang up that kept me from black powder were the cleaning horror stories. It really, really isn't that bad.

All three episodes are simply the best. Thank you so much for the volume of information and demonstrations!

The Log Cabin Store not only has an excellent online store but an even more spectacular physical brick and mortar store to visit complete with a range a fabulous museum on site and they have a presence at events in Ohio at least but possibly elsewhere but they also host their own 17th and 18th Century Crafts Fair every Fall complete with gunmakers blacksmiths weavers carvers and so on

I liked the Weaver screwdriver set; especially because it includes a bench block designed for the 1911.

Thank you Mike .

As a fairly new flint rifle shooter, I am very grateful for the education, thank you!

Thank you so much for this well put together series.👌🤠👍

been to Dixie gun works dad got a couple of flintlock 45 I inherited one of them and all the stuff I need to shoot with(back in the early '70's great place to visit

Hi from Syracuse NY brother and thank you for sharing your thoughts and adventures and information

Mike, really enjoying your videos. I spent my childhood in muzzleloading and now that I finally have time I am getting back into it. I would really like a video or explanation on your lamb's tallow lube. Sourcing and rendering? I appreciate the nice work on the videos, keep 'em coming. Thanks

Learned a lot watching this series, thank you!

Awesome series on flintlocks. Thanks

Great content and informative.

I use 2 drops of Ivory dishwashing soap to break the surface of the water. I run a wire brush down several times and then use the water. Then oil the gun well when I have clean patches come out. I then scrub the lock and barrel and lightly oil the outside. To hold the flint, I take and beat a ball for the gun flat and if need be trim it around the flint. The jaws for me hold better than leather. Once in a bit I might have to tighten it an eighth or quarter more

Great series thanks! I use a Pedersoli Mortimer and a Pedersoli Charles Moore flintlock pistol in target matches. The Mortimer rifle is very good indeed. However it has a patent breech which needs special cleaning attention, and when its not cleaned well is unreliable. The flint pistol is incredibly frustrating so far and your directions on fitting and knapping flints are going to be very useful!

Hi Mike, I bought a couple of military surplus 50 cal Browning machine gun cleaning rods to use as range rods. They came in a pouch and break down into a short compact parcel. Last section is threaded 8-32 for jags, etc and first section sports a T handle...good for bullet pulling. Long enough for most any rifle, remove sections to ram your pistols. If you wait and keep an eye on eBay, cheaper than a new official range rod.

Thank you for this.

Thanks Mike

I've taken to tying a vent pick to the trigger guard of my flintlocks, that way I've always got one handy on every gun. Then I run a spare vent pick (or two) in my cleaning/spare parts kit, just is case.

Hi Mike. Thanks for sharing another one.

Really enjoyed all three videos in this series and I've learned a few things along the way LOL! I've had three different caplock rifles (still have the last two). First two were kits (CVA & Traditions) the last is a hodgepodge of parts collected from Ebay, and other sources and the stock blank coming from a tree I cut down in my yard years ago (Tulip Poplar). Still no rock lock but you keep pushing me to the edge Mike with these videos so I know a flinter is in my future. Stuart

Excellent series of videos.

Cold water and olive oil after the bore is dry is my go to method.I used to use scalding hot water and would constantly get rust.After I went to cold water that stopped.

I use balistol for everything that I shoot cast in. Like you you said about the boiling water I try not to get rid of the seasoning in my barrels. Just like a old skillet once the get seasoned the clean up in a snap. Great vid.🤔

Thank you for these videos! Is that a Jaeger style rifle you show on your title screen? It’s a great looking piece!

I cleaned my Pietta 1873 after shooting with pyrodex with just ballistol and water. I usually finish with a coat of oil or just ballistol the one time I did not it had rust appear afterwards.

Thanks

Again great info

Great series Thank you, I 've have problems with ignition. So I haven't shot it for a long time, I was thinking of getting rid of it, but you have given me a renewed interest and hope. I'm going to try the thing you suggested. The flash hole is low in the pan and the flint hits the frizzen a little low past half way and I have to trim the flint by 1/8 or more because it his the frizzen on half cock. Wish me luck. Hope I can get it to fire like yours. Thanks you all your videos I've learned a lot from you. I have bp revolvers problems and thanks to you they now work great.

Enjoyed this series

For my range bag i simply use an old reenactment haversack and keep a tin of lube for my cap and ball (40% bees wax and 60% olive oil) a rag to wipe my hands off, a tin of caps, and a small leather pouch of balls. I find that the less amount of crap is best and the best part is everything was given to me besides the gun. Soon i hope to have a flintlock rifle and ill simply use the same bag and whatever else items i can scavenge from around the house and or from the trunk of civil war reenactment stuff. Really loving this black powder stuff though!

I've noticed that since I became interested in BP as an addition to my other tools that the availability of all components has slipped to the point to being as difficult as centerfire equip and beyond that archery equipment too! 99.999% OOS. It's depressing.

Great video series Mike, thank you for doing this!

Thanck you from France.

I've always wondered about Ballistol saying it is water soluble oil. No oil is really water soluble, but becomes that way if a little detergent is added, especially for thinner, finer oils. Pure oil and pure water are immiscible, having an advertisement say otherwise doesn't convince me of anything other than that the product is not pure oil. I don't deny that it works, only what it is. It is advertising puffery imo. (Puffery is the advertising law term that means not exactly the truth, but legal).

Hi Mike, like your videos. Learned most of this long before the internet. It was a lot slower and more difficult to find the information then. If you were lucky, you could find some at a good library. I got the feeling watching though, that it was necessary to invest thousands in the hobby. That was not historically correct obviously, even counting for inflation. You favor buying hand made gear. I have hand made gear, like our ancestors, I made it. It may not be fashionable for the boutique crowd, but it works fine. Anybody can make a bullet board, a range rod, almost all of this. My point is not that I'm better or more authentic or whatever. Just that it doesn't have to be a rich mans sport.

Hi Mike. I've been thoroughly enjoying these videos and greatly appreciate all the hard work that goes into all the filming and editing that's involved in making them. Just an idea, but I think it would be cool to see a video about what not to do, or certain things to keep in mind when loading, shooting, or cleaning a flintlock. For example, as a new shooter, I've had two major "Oh shit" moments when I used too big of a cleaning patch and got my ramrod stuck in the barrel. Seriously thought I was going to need a gunsmith to get it out, lol. My understanding is using a brass cleaning brush is not a good idea either. Also, dry firing the mechanism without a flint in the jaws I hear can damage things, but I don't know for sure. Anyways, things like that. Would really like to see a "What not to do with a flintlock" video. Just a suggestion.

At 3:26 , you begin to speak of the video that you had presented some time ago on cleaning flintlocks. I think the video that you're referring to is this one: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Y7mEkpaAvMeblWg.html And that's Part 3, and I'm quite glad that you presented this video series!

Very good tips there! Thanks

Ballistol have clever marketing.

Quick question, how does one get rid of the surface rust that forms inside the barrel of a smooth bore? I used the boiling water method to expel the horrible fouling buildup, although I ran dry patches soaked with balistol, rust still formed instantly... I saw a video where you took a ramrod and sandpaper + drill to alleviate the fouling issue with your brown bess, would the same method work for removing slight surface rust on my Charleville? great channel love your knowledge! -Sincerely, The Caffeinated Historian

Should you remove clean and grease vent liner every time you clean barrel? Only see videos where they plug vent hole and flush inside of barrel. Thank you.

@duelist1954 >>> At about 19:04 in this video: OR you could call it a _"ball sack."_ {Yes, I am sometimes an almost-62 year old adolescent...🤭}

What guns did the average citizens carry during the flintlock era and what did law enforcement use?

I’m not a flintlock shooter but I’ve enjoyed all three of your videos. I’ve never heard of a bullet block. Maybe this is a dumb question but were they used back in the day? It looks like a very simple but time saving device.

nice job

Baby wipes torn into 4 pieces make excellent cleaning patches, cleaning the outside of the gun and your hands

Hello 👋🏾, maybe this was discussed in the videos and I missed it, but what kind of priming powder can be used in the pan? Can you use the same powder you use to load the gun? I’m new to black powder and wanting to learn as much as possible with it

everytime i try to get a catalog from track of the wolf,,,,they always are out of them,,

Great series of videos, Mike. I've learned a lot as I'm a novice flintlock shooter. About the only thing I'm not comfortable with at this point is working with the flint itself -- knapping, replacing, setting in the jaws, etc. Any suggestions?

water soluble machining coolant oil?

Hey Mike, a question as a new flintlock owner. I’ve seen a video and read comments promoting the practice of removing the pins holding the barrel and stock in order to clean the barrel. What are your thoughts on this? Enjoy your videos, keep them coming.

I would love to get into Flintlock. But most of them a little out of my price range.

Mike, excellent video !! Do you have a strong opinion on the investarms flintlocks now that they are no longer being branded by lyman ? i ask this because i am a lefty and they are the only maker that offers a left handed model that i know of .love your content!!

How many times can you shoot before you need to clean the gun?

How often and how did soldiers in the Revolutionary war or Civil war clean their muskets? I’m assuming they weren’t able to clean them as thorough as is recommended now.

Use a paper cartridge and you will never dryball. Of course your powder still may be get wet, but that's another story ;)

I dunno if i'd wanna use peroxide as a gun cleaner

I use a CO2 blaster to blow out the dry ball brother

Mr B, this may be a dumb question but I have zero muzzleloading experience.....would I need to maintain the flint in any way or are they completely disposable? I saw another video of a man "sharpening" a flint with a small hammer and it just seemed too complicated for me. I think he broke (3) before successfully sharpening one

👍👍👍👍

I use boiling hot water myself

Most of the muzzle loaders I know make their own accessories.

That is not a bag that holds your ammo. It is a sack.

ballistol smell makes me gag

@duelist1954 >>> _P.I.A._ = _Pain In the ANATOMY_ 😊😊😊